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They have attained comparative dominance having lost control of their destiny, finally living up to expectations when it might be too late to live down a 2-5 start. They are, again, a head-on collision between excellence and exasperation.

If the Kansas City Chiefs can win out against three teams with losing records, the Chargers will be closed out of a fifth straight division title. Even if the Bolts should finish 10-6, a wild-card playoff berth would be contingent on the collapse of the Baltimore Ravens or, more likely, the New York Jets.

But if Thursday’s 34-7 shellacking of the San Francisco 49ers proves to be the Bolts’ last appearance at Qualcomm Stadium until A) next season; B) a new NFL labor agreement or C) they blow town for Los Angeles, they certainly finished with a flourish.

Except for the Niners’ hollow touchdown with 4:26 left in the game, the Chargers could have scored a second straight shutout for the first time in, well, forever. Except for a few inches of room at the rear of the end zone, Vincent Jackson could have become the third receiver in franchise history to grab four (or more) touchdown passes in the same game. Except for the fate-tempting tendencies of running back Mike Tolbert, who Thursday raced downfield to cover a punt without benefit of his helmet, this was four quarters with very few quibbles.

“Obviously,” said Chargers head coach Norv Turner, “the game went the way we wanted it to go.”

From a broader perspective, this game went so well that the whole season seems to be shaping up as a “could have been” campaign, a year when the Chargers were capable of virtually anything except getting out of their own way. Were it not for a series of bewildering special teams breakdowns and the mystifying miscalculations behind the costly contract holdouts of Jackson and tackle Marcus McNeill, Turner could have been correct in his preseason projection about this being his best Chargers’ team.

Of late, it sure looks like it. Excluding their Dec. 5 meltdown against the Oakland Raiders, the Chargers have been playing at a progressively high level for two months. If last week’s 31-0 shutout of Kansas City was skewed by the Chiefs’ reliance on a rusty backup quarterback, Thursday’s smackdown involved a San Francisco team fresh off a 40-point Sunday.

“We wanted another shutout,” cornerback Antoine Cason said. “and I think that’s where we can get a little better. Keep playing for shutouts and continue to hold them on third-down conversions and don’t let teams have anything. We have to continue to be stingy out there and then keep showing up and playing together like we’ve been doing every week.”

Among the hallmarks of an elite team is the ability to make a mediocre team look lousy. If the Chargers’ 8-6 record disqualifies them from an exalted spot in the standings, perhaps only the New England Patriots are playing at a higher level right now. If much of that is the product of the return of the prodigal pass-catcher, Vincent Jackson, perhaps it’s time for management to let a rising tide wash away its stubborn line in the sand.